Tag Archives: butternut squash

Newly returned from a work trip to Spain, I’ve realised yet again that there are very few good times for a gardener to go away. Poor weather and pressures of work before I left meant that the allotment grass didn’t get cut and I managed very little tidying of the beds other than general harvesting. It was a similar tale at home. Two weeks later, both garden and allotment are looking very sorry for themselves with overlong grass, weeds aplenty and dead foliage everywhere you look. On the up side, there were still dahlias for the picking, but the calabrese and caulifower have gone just too far and will need to be converted to soup pronto! Much as I love homegrown calabrese, it is a problem in that it all comes at once – and there’s a limit to how much one person can eat. I’d already given lots away to family and friends before I went, but the remaining three heads should really have been harvested a week earlier. Never mind, with any luck there will be lots of delicious side shoots from the main stem if the weather remains mild over the next few weeks.

Broccoli & Stilton soup was the obvious choice, accompanied on this occasion by Stilton & apple scones to use up the rest of the Stilton, which I tend not to eat by itself, although I adore its savoury taste in cooking. I adapted my usual cheese & apple scone recipe by replacing Cheddar with Stilton, and added chopped sage instead of thyme – yum! The cauliflower too will go into Cauliflower cheese soup before the week is out.

Also in the fridge on my return and in need of using up fairly quickly were the peppers I’d harvested before I left, and a bag full of beetroot and carrots, not quite so urgent, as they keep, but still ripe for using. I had a yearning for a mixed vegetable stew of some kind and remembered a favourite Nigella Lawson recipe from her Feast book for a Moroccan vegetable stew with aromatic lamb meatballs. This makes huge quantities of the vegetable stew and is ideal for stocking up the freezer – very useful given that my son was dog-sitting for part of my absence and had worked his way through the contents of the freezer! That’s precisely what it’s there for, but it’s always nice to stock it up again with fresh produce before the winter. Nigella’s original recipe uses swede and parsnip, neither of which I have this year, but I figured that it would work equally well with beetroot, squash and peppers – which I had in abundance.

For the vegetable stew: peel and roughly chop 2 of the onions, 2 of the carrots and 2 of the beetroot (use gloves unless you want to look as though you’ve been in a massacre!), then put in a food processor with the chopped garlic. Process to a fine mush, making sure you scrape down the sides so nothing is missed. Alternatively, chop finely by hand, but this is quite a large volume!

Heat a generous glug of olive oil in a large casserole dish (I use my trusty Le Creuset) and tip in the finely chopped vegetables to soften gently. Meanwhile, peel the remaining carrots, beetroot, squash and peppers and cut into small chunks. (The original recipe uses swede and parsnip here, so you can improvise with whatever you have/like.) Add these to the pan and continue cooking to soften, adding the turmeric, cumin and coriander as you go. Snip the apricots into halves or quarters with scissors and add to the pan. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, stock, seasoning and harissa (plus rose water if using separately), then bring to the boil. Once it comes to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for an hour or so, stirring occasionally to check that it’s not sticking.

While the stew is simmering, make the meatballs: put the minced lamb into a food processor (you don’t need to wash the bowl after processing the veg, as a bit of beetroot just adds to the effect), add the chopped leek, spices, seasoning, semolina and the egg, then process until thoroughly blended and the leek is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for half an hour to firm up. After chilling, line a baking sheet with clingfilm and roll the mixture into small balls (about a teaspoon or so in each, like a large marble) with damp hands. You should end up with 70-75 meatballs.

Heat more oil in a frying pan, then add the meat balls in two batches. Fry until golden brown on all sides, then transfer to another baking sheet lined with kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil.

When the stew has cooked for an hour, add the meatballs and continue cooking to heat through. Meanwhile, prepare couscous to serve ( I use 60g couscous and 100 ml boiling water per person, with added couscous spice (or use individual spices of your choice) and a dash of olive oil. Add the water to the couscous with the spice and oil, stir, cover and leave for 10-15 minutes, then fluff up with a fork and serve.)

Cut the pomegranate in half and hit firmly with a wooden spoon over the pan to make the jewel-like seeds fall out. You may need to scrape out the last few, but this is usually quite effective – and satisfying! Pick out any white membrane that may have fallen into the dish too. Sprinkle the stew with chopped parsley or coriander and serve.

As 2016 draws to a close, the last week of the year always seems to be a blur of festive food, shared with friends and family. A treat for those of us who live alone to cater for a larger number for a change and an excuse to cook those more extravagant recipes you can’t justify on a daily basis. I’ve had family to stay since the day before Christmas Eve, but yesterday was our largest family get-together; so hard to tie in everyone’s calendars as children grow older and different constraints come into play.

One of my go-to dishes for gatherings is a venison casserole: partly because my kitchen isn’t huge, so cooking a roast for a larger number is rather a logistical challenge, and with only one oven, casseroles are often the easiest option. This time, I had the brainwave of marinading the venison, from my local farm shop, the day before, then cooking in the oven first thing in the morning, moving to my warming oven after two-and-a-half hours, thus freeing up my oven to be turned up to a higher temperature for jacket potatoes and a vegetarian squash, beetroot & lentil Wellington – perfect! In my 3/4 range (all that would fit in my kitchen), I’ve only ever used the narrow warming oven for warming plates before, but it kept the casserole on a very gentle simmer until we were ready to eat – well worth remembering for the future.

Trim venison if necessary, then place in a large bowl with the wine, bay leaves, rosemary and garlic. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge or a cool place.

Heat the oil in a large casserole and gently fry the chopped onion, celery and bacon until softened – about 10 minutes. Set aside using a slotted spoon. Drain the venison from the marinade, reserving the marinade to add later. Add more oil to the casserole if necessary, then brown the venison in batches. Return all the venison to the pan when all the meat is browned and sprinkle over the flour, stirring well for 2 minutes or so. Add the reserved marinade and the stock and bring to the boil, stirring.

Return the bacon, onion and celery mix to the pan, add the quartered mushrooms and the chestnuts, thyme leaves and redcurrant jelly. Cover the casserole with a lid when simmering, then cook in a pre-heated oven at 150°C, Gas 3 for 2 1/2 hours, or until the venison is beautifully tender.

To ring the changes, and despite the fact that there were no vegetarians amongst us, I accompanied the venison with a squash, beetroot & lentil Wellington that had caught my eye in the Christmas edition of the BBC Good Food magazine. I always buy this foodie magazine in December, mainly for the lovely calendar, but it often comes up trumps with novel and different-sounding recipes. This was intended to be a vegan recipe, but I adapted it to include cream cheese and milk. I have no doubt that it would have been delicious just as it was, however – and definitely worth remembering if you’re catering for vegan guests!

Toss the prepared onion, squash, beetroot and garlic in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, add chopped rosemary and thyme, season, then roast at 180°C for 45 minutes until just tender. Stir in lentils and half the chestnuts, and set to one side.

Place the chopped kale into a pan of boiling water and blanch for i minute until wilted. Drain and run under cold water to cool. Squeeze out excess water, then blitz in a food processor with the lemon rind and juice,remaining 2 garlic cloves, the remaining chestnuts, seasoning and a glug of olive oil. Finally add the cream cheese or goat’s cheese if using. (I added wild garlic too when cooking again in April, blanching with the kale – an inspired addition!)

Roll out the pastry to a larger rectangle on a floured surface. Spread the kale pesto down the central third of the pastry. Gently spoon the squash and lentil mixture onto the pesto. Brush the side thirds with milk or beaten egg and cut into inch-wide strips not quite reaching the middle third. Fold over the short ends or the rectangle, then gradually fold the outer thirds over the squash and lentil mound to overlap and form a long oblong. Brush with more milk or egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Can be left to chill overnight if you have time (and space in your fridge!). Otherwise cook at 180 – 200°C for 45 minutes to 1 hour until crisp and golden brown. Serve warm.

The Good Food recipe made individual Wellingtons (using two packs of pastry), but this worked well as one large pie – more filling per helping too! Even my very definitely non-vegetarian father (a confirmed meat-eater at 83!) loved this and came back for more – praise indeed…

My final recipe for the braised red cabbage is one of my winter stalwarts. Made entirely in the microwave, it lends itself well to preparing ahead and reheating, or even making in a lrge batch and freezing to bring out through the winter as required. Ideal for accompanying winter casseroles, hotpots and hearty winter meals.

Put the oil in a large bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute 30. Stir in the celery, fennel seeds and 1 tbsp water. Cook for a further 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients, cover with clingfilm, piercing several times to allow the steam to escape when cooking. Return to the microwave for 3 minutes, then stir. Repeat twice more. At this stage, the cabbage can be left to stand until required and then reheated in the microwave for a further 3-4 minutes. Freezes beautifully too.

It’s been an unseasonally warm, but blustery day here in the South-East – the perfect weather for walking dogs through autumn-hued forests and starting the great garden (and allotment) tidy-up. Having been on holiday the first week of October, then back to a change-of-season head cold, I feel as though the change from summer to autumn has happened almost overnight! All of a sudden the nights are drawing in, leaves are changing colour and the harvest definitely needs bringing in.

All my apples are in already, beans have finished and the last few courgettes are not really ripening, despite the residual warmth in the sun. On the plus side, the late-season sowings of salad and herbs I made in September are romping away, looking promising for winter greens if I can keep the slugs and frost at bay – I think a judicial application of organic slug pellets and a fleece overcoat might be in order!

Autumn raspberries are still producing, albeit at a slower rate, but still enough to top my breakfast muesli and yogurt a couple of mornings a week – which can’t be bad for October. The dahlias are also magnificent still, producing vases full of deep magenta, fuchsia pink and claret red blooms, with some spidery white cactus flowers for good measure. The stalks are shorter this year, but I can’t complain and I have so many vases for every eventuality that they always look good.

My Sarah Raven tulips finally arrived this week, so I made a start, late this afternoon, on empting my summer tubs in the garden – doesn’t seem two minutes since I planted them up for summer! The tuberous begonias I bought as tubers have been phenomenal this year, so I’m going to attempt to keep them over the winter. For now, I’ve just shaken off any loose soil and left them to dry out in a tray in the shed, but before the frosts arrive, I shall wrap them in newspaper and store in the garage overwinter.

I’m going to do the bulk of my tulips next weekend, when the weather will hopefully be a little colder. I’ve ordered orange Ballerina, deep-purple Recreado, deep red Couleur Cardinal and red and black Pimpernel – should be a sight to behold! And this year I’m reverting to planting single blocks of colour in each pot for maximum effect, rather than mixing them and risking them not flowering at the same time, as happened this spring.

Pickings from the allotment this weekend included calabrese, beetroot, kale, mixed salad leaves, coriander, parsley, leeks and butternut squash, the latter now being left in a capacious basket in the conservatory for winter use. Indeed, most of them are so huge, they are enough for several meals in one go (such hardship!). Recipe ideas to follow:

Butternut squash, leek and bacon risotto

Serves 3 (or 2 with enough left for arancini the next day…)

Half a large butternut squash, peeled (easiest with a vegetable peeler) and chopped into large chunks

Olive oil

1 tsp coriander seeds

100g smoked bacon, chopped

225g leeks, trimmed and sliced

150g arborio risotto rice

50g butter

1 small onion, chopped

75 ml dry white wine

approx. 500 ml homemade stock (vegetable, chicken or ham)

1 dspn chopped fresh sage

2 tbsp Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, grated

salt & pepper

To serve:

50g Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, grated

Chopped parsley or toasted pumpkin/squash seeds to garnish.

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C, Gas 6. Roast the chopped squash in olive oil, seasoning and crushed coriander seeds for 30 minutes. Turn oven down to 160°C, Gas 4. Cook the bacon and the onion in the butter until soft and golden – 5-7 mins. Place a 9” square baking dish (2” deep) into the oven to warm up. Add the leeks and the rice to the pan and stir through to get a good coating of butter. (It will look as though there’s not nearly enough rice at this stage but it swells during cooking.) Add the wine and the stock, then the sage and seasoning and bring to boiling point. Finally stir in the roast squash. Transfer the contents of the pan into the warmed dish, stir and bake, uncovered, for 20 mins. Then stir in 2 tbsp Parmesan and add more liquid if it’s all absorbed – I find it always needs more, so make sure you allow extra. Return to oven and cook for a further 15 mins, before serving with extra cheese and toasted pumpkin or squash seeds as a garnish – or parsley if you prefer.

Butternut Squash Dauphinoise This recipe is courtesy of my BBC Good Food kitchen calendar, slightly adapted to the contents of my fridge. I often make potato or parsnip dauphinois, but had never tried it with squash and was pleasantly surprised. No. 1 son was home for the weekend and this made a delicious accompaniment to roast chicken, roast potatoes and home-grown calabrese.

150 ml double cream

150 ml milk

Bay leaf

Sprig of thyme

1 clove garlic

Grated nutmeg

½ large butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced

Butter to grease dish

50 g Gruyère cheese, grated

Place milk, cream, bay leaf, thyme sprig and crushed garlic in a pan, bring to the boil, then switch off and leave for 10 mins to infuse.

Heat oven to 200°C. Grease an oblong, shallow ovenproof dish with butter, then add the thinly sliced squash in layers. Season, then pour over the milk and cream mixture including the herbs. Cover with foil and cook in the oven for 30 mins. Then uncover, make sure all the squash is submerged and add more milk if you think it looks a little dry. Scatter over the grated cheese. Return to the oven for a further 30 mins until the squash is tender and the whole dish is golden. Serve with roast meat, sausages, etc. This amount makes enough for 3, but can easily be doubled to feed more.

And finally:

Stuffed butternut squash with sausage, onion and kale

Serves 2

1 medium butternut squash, halved and deseeded (but NOT peeled)

50g pearl barley

200g kale, thick stalks removed, finely chopped

2 good-sized sausages

Olive oil

100g halloumi or feta

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp harissa paste

100g cherry tomatoes, halved

½ Jalapeno chilli, finely chopped

Gruyère or Parmesan cheese, grated, to top

Roast the squash halves, cut side up, on a tray in the oven at 200°C for 50 mins – 1 hour, depending on the size of your squash. Meanwhile, cook pearl barley in a pan of water for 40 mins until tender, adding the chopped kale for the last few minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the onion slowly for 30 mins, adding the skinned and chopped sausage for the last 15 mins. Add to the pearl barley, along with the chopped feta or halloumi, tomatoes, chopped chillis and harissa paste, then season well.

Scoop out the tender flesh from the squash and add to the barley mixture, mixing lightly. Return to the squash shells, sprinkle over Gruyère or Parmesan to taste and return to the oven for 15 mins until nicely golden.

Enjoy!

This was based on a recipe from my Sainsbury’s Cook’s Calendar – obviously a good month for calendar recipes. My squash was so huge that I could only eat a quarter of it in one go and I did find that it wasn’t as good re-heated for lunch the next day: the barley seemed to have absorbed all the liquid so it was a little dry. Perhaps serve with tomato sauce if re-heating? First time round it was delicious however!